Dog Days
by YumiDoesTheMacarena
Summary: A series of KibaSaku oneshots. There are innumerable scenarios, a million plotlines, a hundred thousand ways to tell their story. Here are only a few.
1. Kiss With A Fist

Title: Kiss with a Fist

Rating: T

Song: Kiss With A Fist by Florence and the Machine

Summary: Since making Jonin Kiba has been on three missions with Sakura, making a total of seven.

Warnings: Contains minor spoilers up to current chapters (up to 570). Contains sex, but no lemons, and some rather poined hints at NaruHina and ShinoHina. It takes place in the animeverse which is why there is mention of a certain filler arc.

* * *

Since making Jonin, Kiba had been on three missions with Sakura, making a total of seven.

The first of the seven had been years ago, back when he was about thirteen. It had been before their second chunin exams, so that had to be right... It was a pretty simple mission, but had been a hodge-podge cell from hell going out with them. Kurenai-sensei was the leader, but Hinata was sick and Shino had to stay home for some super-important something having to do with the kikaichu reproductive cycle. (Kiba had accepted that at face value: working with his teammate was one thing, learning the details about his creepy-crawly little buddies was another entirely.) The Hokage had sent Sakura along because there was some crazy-high probability of someone being bitten by something nasty and they would need a medic (he had overheard the woman telling Sakura that it would be good 'practice' and had therefore spent the mission avoiding unknown things like the plague so he wasn't the test dummy). With them had been Chouji and that, at least, had been a relief. They had worked together before, and despite the mission ending in failure, it had built a certain sense of loyalty and friendship between the members, a confidence... and a silent agreement that Sasuke really was the asshole they had previously thought him.

The mission had been a success, and they made it back from the southern rain forest with time to spare and their research conducted. Only Chouji had been poisoned, and Sakura healed him up within a day, impressing the hell out of Kiba. He had seen enough that, when they fought during the Chunin exams, he didn't hold back. Neither did she. Without Akamaru, he never would have won that fight, and they both knew it. And they both passed; she had hugged him upon hearing the news before turning away and glomming onto Ino, who had just rushed over. The force had actully knocked him back, and Akamaru ramming his head against the backs of Kiba's thighs was the only thing that helped him keep his balance.

Some time after Naruto returned, they were sent out in a large group to search one of Orochimaru's bases. Or rather, his team plus Kakashi had been, and they were joined over the course of the mission by several of the other Konoha 11 and then some. It had been a crapshoot from the start and the overlarge group had proven to be a blessing; they broke into three seperate four-man cells, each tasked with one particular aspect. It had been a hell of a fight for all of them and he wasn't likely to forget it any time soon.

The third had been equally memorable: searching for Itachi/Sasuke with Team Kakashi and Team Kurenai. They had encountered the odd masked Akatsuki and almost sorta found Sasuke, and witnessed an insane explosion that leveled about half the forest. That had been a failure, and the day that Kiba decided Sasuke was serious bad luck.

The fourth had been unofficial. He, Akamaru, Sai, and Lee had gone with her to the Land of Iron so she could talk Naruto down and then go finish off Sasuke. The main things Kiba recalled about that mission were how frustrated he had been with her, and that she had knocked him out cold as soon as he told her where her ex-teammate was. After he had woken up and had time to really think about it, he realized that not only was Sasuke a bad luck spreading asshole, he was a god-damn _curse_.

Shortly after that the war had started, and missions didn't really mean a whole lot for a while. Then, at twenty, he was called to the Hokage's office, where he had met Sakura, Chouji, and Shino. They were going back to the rainforest they had surveyed seven years before; one of the plants they discovered in ample supply had suddenly become increasingly rare, and Konoha couldn't afford to buy them. It would be best to go straight to the source. If Kurenai-sensei wasn't busy taking care of her kid, she would have gone with them. Shino, already a Jonin by that point, would have been put in charge of the mission if not for the fact that he had never been there before. Sakura was their team leader, and she proved herself worthy of the title about four dozen times during the two-week mission.

They had taken the Jonin exams at the same time a few months later, and somehow once again had to fight. It was a brutal battle, and he thought he would never forgive her for consistently attacking his one emotional weak point: Akamaru. It was a perfect strategy, knocking him from a calm and level-headed shinobi to little more than a beast himself, unable to process things clearly until she punched his partner in front of him and sent him flying across the arena, only to crumple at the foot of the wall. Then, as soon as he forfeited, she had dropped to her knees and begun healing his partner's every injury despite the fact that she still had at least one major fight left. He remembered telling her that she didn't have to do it, shouting at her to get the hell away from his partner, the fight was over and hadn't she done enough damage already. Sakura had glared at him and told him to 'shut the hell up, dog-boy, you're next'. True to her word, she had healed him despite all violent protests... and proceeded to lose the next fight due to chakra exhaustion. Neither passed, and they avoided each other as best they could until the next exam two years later, which they both passed, due in large part to the fact that they hadn't had to fight.

A week later Naruto threw them a joint celebration, after which they had a screaming row that somehow repaired their damaged friendship. His respect for her went up again, they started sparring with something resembling regularity. In almost no time at all he had come to realize how odd those two years had been, treating her like a stranger instead of sometime-teammate at all the reunions and parties, not being willing to wave to her in town. She never once treated him or even checked in on him during his visits at the hospital, when before that had been a regular thing—if he was in for more than two days, she went out and brought him a good, wholesome (and far more importantly, _meat-filled_) lunch which she would share with him while he recounted his latest adventure and she chastised him for the ensuing injuries. He got the distinct impression that the reason he was always under her care at the hospital after that was because she wouldn't let anyone else see him, quite possibly to make up for her apparent lack of caring. They had become friends without realizing it, and it took two year of near-silence, a huge fight, and semi-regular beatdowns for them to go back to normal.

His second mission as a Jonin was to go with her and Shikamaru to that same damn rainforest. The village had been very well-paid by a botanical enthusiast who was terrified of wild animals as much as brigands. Shikamaru would be team leader, which left them the job of guarding the man and beating up bad guys. The two of them had exchanged a long look followed by an eye roll and proceeded to treat it like a vacation. They had a blast, pointing out things that had changed and relating anecdotes of the last few times they had been there. Her familiarity with the flora had been matched only by his with the fauna, the local beasts, some of which he knew by name now. Akamaru got bit by one of those god-awful poisonous lizards that had gotten Chouji, and while he hovered around wringing his hands like a nervous father-to-be, Sakura had soothed both Inuzukas with her calm voice even as she extracted the venom and administered the antidote she had perfected years ago. It was a good thing too; the poison worked double-time in animal systems, something they had witnessed on their last foray into the jungle when a tiger got bit in front of them. She had saved it too, he recalled. Just barely. More grateful than he could say, Kiba had approached her that night while she was on watch and hugged her from behind, pressing his covered brow to her shoulder. "Thanks, Sakura." She had reached up behind her and patted his head gently, ruffling her fingers through his hair until he backed away at least a quarter hour later.

They didn't speak of it, and another year and a half later they had a mission together, just them and Akamaru. When they saw one another in the Hokage's office, they both turned to the woman and demanded as one to know their destination. She had sighed and rubbed her eyes and admitted that she was sending them back.

"Again," Sakura had clarified.

"Again again," he had corrected unenthusiastically, then rolled his eyes. "What now?"

Tsunade had proceeded to inform them that someone was edging in on Konoha's territory and stealing large bundles of the precious herbs before they could be shipped out. The shinbi were to act as guards for the botanists living there, deterrents against further acts of sabotage and, if needed (which they both knew meant 'as soon as you ge the chance'), a small hit-squad. She wanted them to "chase those theiving bastards out of there and make sure they never come back". She had also refused point-blank to appoint either of them leader of the mission; they were in this together, completely. Apparently their private training sessions had become public knowledge, because she commented that they worked well together and knew all of each others moves by heart after all these years, so there wasn't a better duo to send. "Besides," she had added with a sigh. "I got a report from Shikamaru that said you actually _enjoyed_ the last trip. So go, take your time, enjoy... and don't come back until those bastards are gone for good."

They hadn't been able to deny that, so they went to pack for a mission of undetermined length.

Expecting a routine trip to his 'favorite' jungle was probably the biggest mistake of his life. With just Akamaru and Sakura, things were very different. It was _better_. Their dynamic was set and familiar, their meals and conversations and teamwork simplicity itself. It was easy, seriously, disturbingly easy. They joked and chattered and compared Naruto-is-an-idiot stories and pondered how long it would take him to realize he was head over heels for Hinata... and how Shino would take it, having just had the same realization. Sakura seemed pretty surprised to realize he was something of a gossip (her words, not his!) and he was equally astonished to realize that most of the time they spent alone together was filled with either bickering, playing with Akamaru, of just plain beating the hell out of each other.

The mission quickly became a search and destory when they found four seperate camps of criminals scattered around the greenhouses and production facilites that had been built since their second mission there. After taking out the first two units, one a night after their first full week at the encampment, the remaining two got the hint and fled. They pursued the one that seemed to have done most of the stealing; the scent of the herbs was stronger there, and there was more evidence of wagon shipment leaving that camp than the others. It took four weeks to hunt down all of the bastards, due almost entirely to the fact that they split up and Kiba and Akamaru had to hunt them one at a time. The other group was easier, and it was by some kind of divine justice that on their way back to the rainforest they ran across _it_: the smaller team's scnet trail heading north. Way north. As in, Snow Country, which pleased the hell out of Sakura but put him in one seriously bad mood. Still, they caught up pretty soon and took out those bastard, too, with smiles on their faces.

It was on the way back to Konoha that things got awkward. Kiba hadn't really noticed, and he doubted Sakura had either, but they had grown a lot... _closer_... during the pursuit portion of their mission. They slept back to back rather than several feet away, started hand-feeding each other random things like berries instead of handing them to the other. They communicated without words a good portion of the time, and a shift of her shoulders could tell him more of her state of mind than the tone of her voice. Likewise, she seemed to know the meaning behind every twist of his lips and that if his hackles rose it was time to move on.

When they got sort-of, almost caught in a snowstorm on the way back south, she insisted they zip their sleeping rolls together so they could share body heat. It was halfway through the night, when he settled in beside her without batting an eye, Akamaru curled up at their feet for his watch, that he realized he was in trouble. Sleeping next to Haruno Sakura should not feel _natural_ or _easy_. It should be funny, the brunt of somewhat awkward jokes between them until they fell asleep as far from one another as possible. But he was teetering on the edge of sleep as the thoughts came to him, and fell off before he could do anything about it. He woke with her curled up at his side, one hand on his chest, and all those half-panicked, mostly confused thoughts swarmed back into his mind. She peeked outside and saw the state of the snow, decreed that if they tried to go anywhere they would risk freezing to death, and proceeded to ration out their, well, rations, on the assumption that they would be stuck there for several more days.

They talked and plotted and joked around, and they slept. A lot. There wasn't much else to do in the cold. The third time he woke up with her little hands clenched in his clothes, he did the only thing he could think of to restore that bit of space that had been between them: While Akamaru, safe in his fur coat, was out scouting and doing a bit or recreational hunting, he picked a fight over Sasuke.

It was a mistake. A huge mistake, if the way her hackles rose was any indication. And it was. She was furious and tore into him about how no matter how well he thought he knew Sasuke-kun, he wasn't one of Team 7 and didn't understand what it was like. She was glorious, flushed and livid with flashing eyes. He argued that no, he didn't, because his team was like a family that knew the value of pack and ally and wouldn't just abandon the others to their own defenses. It became apparent that he was getting desperate when he sank to comparing _Naruto_ to Sasuke for leaving her too. More obvious was the fact that somewhere along the line he had fallen for her, because he found himself getting genuinely angry as he realized with a soul-wrenching pang of empathy and sadness that he was _right_. Her pack had left her. She leaned forward, one hand on the tent floor, the other winging palm-open towads his face. He grabbed her wrist without thinking. The urge came over him too strong and fast for him to give it any consideration. Desire, longing, frustration, sympathy—they all mixed together in his chest, spurring on his implusive nature and causing him to follow through with the barely-formed half-plan in his mind. Kiba shifted his grip on her wrist and reeled her in, crushing his lips over hers as he pulled her into his lap. He slipped his hand into her hair, angling her head to deepen the kiss before she had a chance to do more than gasp.

Sakura pounded her fist against his shoulder, tears of frustration gathering in her eyes. A few seconds later she tried to push him away with that same hand. He paid no attention to it; her other hand twisted out of his grip and buried itself in his hair, holding his head to her. He bore her down to the blanket; she wrapped her legs around his waist and groaned raggedly when he pressed her into the makeshift bed.

* * *

They'd had sex.

In fact, they'd had some seriously hot sex. Several times during the rest of the two days they were snowed into that tent. Which was without a doubt what led him here, walking away from her apartment and following the freshest scent trail of orchids and strawberries—her conditioner and body wash respectively, used only between missions—through town. It crossed his mind that she might be slightly disconcerted to learn that he had used his tracking skills to locate her the way he had their quarry in the weeks prior, but then he _was_ an Inuzuka.

She would just have to get used to it.

He grimaced. It was the same way he would have to get used to all the stupid, shocked looks he was getting for walking through Konoha in his trademark, totally _badass_ leather jacket with a damned bouquet under one arm. Though it might have been the fact that he was alone that did it; Akamaru was relishing being back with the rest of the pack, had run off the minute they stepped foot into the gates at his master's urging. Kiba would have been, too, if he didn't have a damned stubborn mate to locate.

Her parting words played through his head again, making his growl. _"Look, Kiba, that was a mistake. You know it was well as I. We were cooped up, and tensions were high, and wer'e familiar enough with each other that it just kind of happened. Don't worry about it. It happens to shinobi all the time."_ He had frowned at her and caught her arm. He _saw_ the heat pool in her eyes; he always took hold of her arm and drew her close when he wanted another round. Arousal was already an ingrained reaction in her when he did that, depsite days of totally silent travel. Which he wouldn't have allowed had he realized she was using that time to talk herself out of them. No, he would have insisted they stop in every town and forest between Snow Contry and Konoha and used every oppurtunity to show her exactly how right they were for each other.

How rare this was. Because, like he had replied to her, _"This happens to _other_ shinobi all the time. Not us. For you, and me—this isn't normal. This wasn't just _recreation_, Sakura."_

She had arched one pretty pink brow in that haughty way of hers. _"For you, maybe. How would you know about me?"_

The insinuation had made him growl at her. Probably not a good move, but dammit, she had known exactly what button to press. _"Because I would have smelled them on you. You may not be lily white, Sakura, but you haven't lain with a man in years. Because you reacted like a woman starving for touch. _My_ touch."_

She had gaped at him then and torn her arm from his grasp. A few quick seals later, as he was reaching for her, she disappeared in whirlwind of leaves. He could have killed Kakashi in that moment, had the Copy-Nin been around.

Stiffly, furious, he had gone and reported to the Hokage alone, only to learn that Sakura had just been and gone. No one mentioned it, but he could smell the cold air that permeated their clothes, mixed with the faintest traces of her arousal. He had smirked at first, amused that such a small gesture on his part could have such a large impact on her, then bit his lip, canines digging in until he bled. He found himself utterly unable to comprehend why she had bothered trying to lie to him about wanting him. With his well-known senses, there was no possible way to hide her reaction from him. Ever. He had proven that during their few days in that tent, over and over again. His nose let him scent out her emotions, even, so why...? He headed up to the old bat's office, half hoping to catch sight of a certain pink-haired ex-apprentice.

No such luck. He had handed over his report scroll, simply laying it next to one that was gilded in pink. The center of the scroll, he noticed with no small amount of amusement, was red, with a white circular break in the color. The Haruno symbol. His eyes had shifted to his own scroll, the edges of which were grey and decorated with a small repition of his own clan's red double fang.

At least she was accustomed to the color.

Just when he made to leave, Tsunade'd called him back and pinned him with the same eerily sharp gaze that Sakura had. "Is there anything else you would like to report to me, Kiba?"

He had tipped his head back and thought about it, really thought about it. Was he supposed to tell her he had slept with and subsequently been dumped by her youngest apprentice? Like hell. But there was one thing he could say... Nodding his head, he turned towards the door and called over hhis shoulder, "Yeah. You may be getting an engagement form soon. Sign it." That said, he'd left, ignoring the surprpised looks from Izumo and Kotetsu, who had obviously heard him through the door.

The ground under him shaking was what brought him out of his reverie. He blinked, watching a massive oak fall to the ground. Looking over it, watching as the dust cleared, he caught sight of Sakura for the first time in three days. He had given her time to cool down.

It obviously hadn't worked; the next swing she took was at his head. He was startled enough to fall onto his ass. He was shinobi enough to automatically lock his ankles around hers and twist his legs, causing her to crash down on top of him.

It was a struggle, but he made a point of frowning down at her where she lay on his chest. "You're going to ruin the flowers," he grumbled, shifting up enough to shove them at her, but not enought o dislodge her. She hadn't been so close to him in _days_. She smelled of sweat and fuit and flowers in her hair and hand.

She blinked, bemused, at the professional bouquet of now slightly malformed orchids. It had been made by Ino's mother to at his request; the woman was squirrelly enough to get out of him who they were for and kind enough to select colors with the proper meanings. There were lavender ("A more mature pink, which suits her, as you know, and mean romance and elegence...") and white ("To communicate your humility, hope for new beginnnings, and that your intentions are pure... they _are_, pure, aren't they, Kiba-kun? Because that girl doesn't need—" "Not pure," he had told her bluntly, much to her astonishment. "But genuine. Very genuine," which had seemed to satisfy her...) and just a few dark purple ones as well ("Often they indicate mystery, but in this case I think their more subtle meaning of 'uncertainty' will get your point across nicely...") among the dozens of other smaller plants and flowers. He had lost count of them all, and knew only that every single one the woman had picked out was to help convey his message. It was why he had left the store quickly after despoting twice the correct amount of ryo on the counter.

Still straddling him, Sakura brushed her fingers over the flower petals, the pinks and white and, lastly, the deep royal purple iris at the center of it all. "Obaa-chan did this." There was no question in her tone, so he said nothing, simply held himself up below her with his elbows digging into the ground. "You told her about us."

He cocked a brow. "I didn't know there was an 'us'." She blushed prettily and he nearly kicked himself for the comment.

"Which explains this one..." she was still fingering the deepest purple flower in the arrangement. "And this..." her hand shifted to fondle a small sprig of yellow flowers Kiba couldn't name. "An offer for friendship... even if I don't accept the rest. It means you'll stand by me anyway."

He tried not to show that he hadn't known about that one. The sneaky old bat... she was a genius. Now he could sort of understand how canny Ino was despite her father's forthright nature. His eyes stayed on Sakura's face as she rose to her feet and wandered away, poking through the flowers and nodding every so often. He sat up, crossing his legs in front of him and taking hold of his ankles as he watched her almst nervously. After several minutes, she turned to look at him. "This is beautiful, and it says a lot more than I think you relaize. If Obaa-chan put this much effort into it you must have won her over somehow. Did you pick orchids or did she?"

"I did," he conceded, and saw surprise sweep over her face before she could turn away and hide it.

"They're my favorites. Their scent is so beautiful..." she sighed dreamily and he got silently to his feet, padding after her.

He stopped behind her, looking over her shoulder at the plants she cradled like an infant. Hesitantly, he rested the fingertips of one hand against the flare of her hip. She let him. That had to be good, right? Right? "I know it is. You smell like them even when you're not in town. Even when you haven't been for weeks and the strawberry scent if long gone." Her head straightened up with a snap; if he hadn't shifted back slightly her head would have hit his jaw. Was she so surprised that he even noticed that? He realized it long before he knew he wanted her.

"Kiba..." Suddenly she turned to him, gaze intent on his face. Her brows were drawn together, her lips pressed into a pout. "These flowers say that you love me. Is it true?"

He shrugged. He may be trying to win her, but he wasn't going to lay _all _his cards on the table just yet. "Who knows," he told her and squashed the spike of triumph when ehr shoulders fell just a little. "But I can tell you one thing.

"I'm a dog-nin, right?" she noded hesitantly, eyes narrowing suspiciously at his sudden shift in topic even as her fingers danced over the blossoms and buds in her hand. "Do you know what Inuzukas and wolves have in common?" She shook her head, and he reached out, taking a lock of her hair between his fingers and letting it slide from his grasp as he dropped his hand to his side as he began to back away. "We always mate for life. I'll leave you to think about that." And he did, turning and loping out of the clearing.

He may never have done anything so difficult in his life as ignoring her shout for him to come back. Gritted his teeth, he took to the trees and made damn sure she wouldn't be able to folllow him as he made his way to Shino's place. He needed to talk to his best friend. He had a lot of questions, and even more things to tell.

* * *

Kiba didn't see her for three and a half weeks after that, and he tried not to show how much that killed him inside. At first it had been because she got called in to the hospital for several days. Double shifts, he heard Shizune tell Naruto. Next he was sent out on a mission, then one of the expectant mothers—Akamaru's littermate Aoko—had some complications with her pregnancy. Her owner had died some years before, and Kiba had taken her in. She would never be his partner and he would never presume to replace hers, but he made sure the ninken was comfortable and as happy as he could make her... which meant staying home with her for half a week while she recovered.

Every morning for four days he woke up hoping for some news of Sakura trying to visit and being turned away. Every evening for four days he went to sleep disappointed. Akamaru knew, of course, as did Shino. Hinata knew right off that something was wrong from the first time she saw him after the ninken was finally in the clear. Naruto, standing opposite Shino (they were glaring daggers at each other, so it was safe to assume the fox had finally figured out that he more than friend-liked the girl) hadn't picked up on a thing besides, "Hey, Kiba, you look down! How about I buy ramen tongiht? Is Ichiraku's alright with you?"

Kiba murmured some vague agreement, accepted a quick, empathetic hug from Hinata—held on a bit longer than usual just to piss the blonde off, too—and trudged along after them, Akamaru occaisionally bumping his massive shoulder agains Kiba's leg. He buried his hand in the soft, warm fur and sighed. He had been trying to keep to himself the last few days. It wasn't a good idea; when a pack member was unhappy, they needed to rely on the others to bolster their spirits. It was what he had been doing for Aoko. He got the feeling that she had known he was unhappy, too, and that was why he was the only one she let near her.

Rubbing the other hand over his face, he thoght once again that he had a whole new respoect for Hana-nee. If being wholly responsible for just two dogs was like this... and she had three ninken _and_ was the primary care veterinarian for the entire Inuzuka clan... she must be exhausted. God knew he was. In fact, by the time they reached the ramen stand, Akamaru had insisted on giving him a ride about four times. He alwas refused; he wasn't in any hurry and walking was somehow cathartic to him right then. It reminded him of the month he had spent with Sakura, walking and running all over the continent.

_Sakura..._

"Sakura-chan! You're off work!"

"What!" Kiba's head shot up in time to see Naruto hop off his stool and break into a jog. Seconds later the familiar scent of orchids and berries filled Kiba's senses. Shino shifted to stand just behind Kiba, silently supporting his friend for what could either be a good thing, or a terrible thing.

"Naruto, I—Oh my god." She dig her heels in when she caught sight of Kiba, eyes wide as saucers. He sat in place, shoulders slumped, hands on his thighs as he watched her warily. If she had been _avoiding_ him these last few weeks, now was the time for him to learn.

It would be the last kick this dog would take before he bit back, and he put that in his eyes. No doubt feeling the tension in his master, Akamaru started snarling quietly at his side, and immediately his hand shifted to bury itself in Akamaru's crest.

_Still, boy._

Sakura seemed incapable of saying anything else. "Oh my god." She swallowed, seeming to not even see anyone else. Was that a good sign? "Oh my god, Kiba, you... You look terrible!" Tugging her wrist free from Naruto in a painfully familiar gesture. she rushed towards him, hands already before her and glowing as she rested them on his temple. "I heard from Hana that one of Akamaru's siblings was in danger and you stayed with her. Didn't you get any sleep? You can't just let them push you around like that, idiot..." She trailed off, biting her lip as an expression of intense concentration fell over her face. Kiba couldn't help the shudder that wracked his body as her chakra delved into his system and almost instanteaneously repaired the dozen small aches and pains that had come with the last few weeks. The pounding in his temples was the first to go and he sighed silently, his chin dropping a bit.

"It wasn't Aoko's fault I couldn't sleep," he murmured pointedly, for her ears only. "It just wasn't her I wanted at my side." He felt the cool chakra stutter out and opened his eyes to guage her expression. She looked... chagrined. And, upon closer inspection... exhausted. He almost smiled. Almost. "Save some of that chakra for yourself," he instructed, reaching his free hand up to brush a fingertip over the bruising under her right eye. "Apparently I haven't been the only one whose lonely."

She stepped back away from his hand, but before he could drop it she caught hold and held it between them. She spoke with a wry smile. "No, you haven't. I've been thinking on it," she said suddenly, and it was clear that no one else had any idea what they were talking about. "A lot. I've decided I'm okay with it, dog-nin."

He grinned weakly, despite being quite energized at both her words and the quick treatment she had just given him. "Really?" She nodded. "Seriously?" She smiled at him, indulgently and hummed her agreement. "You can't take it back," he warned lightly.

"I don't want to." She was grinning at him, just a little, in that amused way he had missed so god damn much.

He grinned. "Good." Faster than a flash he was out of his seat, cradling her face in his hands and pulling her towards him, laying his lips over hers. He heard Naruto shout in surprise, caught Hinata's gasp and the begining of a calm, soft reassurance from Shino as he drifted towards the woman. Akamaru leaned against his legs, rumbling happily.

Sakura gasped in surprise at the sudden movement, and while he definitely wanted to take advantage of the deliciously open mouth under his, he also wanted to make a point here... Keeping the kiss chaste, light, he pressed his lips to her again. This time he heard the ramen girl gasp behind hte counter and a small sound of amusement from her father at the same time Naruto moaned in dejected misery. It only took a second to figure out why: Sakura's fingers wrapped around the lapels of his jacket, bodily hauling him closer to her. Her arms between them, she held him firmly in place and tapped her tongue agains this lips.

Well, if she was offering, he thought, and growled into her mouth happily as she deepend the kiss.

* * *

AN: Well, I hope that was enjoyable. It was my first-ever attempt at a KibaSaku story, and the singular reason for all the following updates in this collection! I have so much fun writing the two of them in all sorts of different situations, as any 'regular' readers will seen see. Please keep in mind that while I have a good number of these already written, not all updates will be quick; that's just not how I work, unfortunately. I think there will be about ten of these oneshots, all of varying length and genre.

If you've any questions, feel free to ask. Same with any other comments, really, especially constructive criticism; let me know if they're in character, what you thought of the missions; anything, really. _Definitely_ let me know if you can think of or find any other songs taht you think would work with this fic, or any of the others in the collection!

_Ja na!  
_


	2. Willful Ignorance

Title: Willful Ignorance

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Song: Initially inspired by Who's Your Daddy? by Toby Keith  
Only If For a Night by Florence and the Machine

Summary: Kiba didn't know when or why Sakura began to rely on him so entirely, and he can't bring himself to resent her imposition. She needs someone to take care of her; it may as well be him.

Warning: Contains character death, mature themes, and some seriously effed-up references KakaSaku. Not that's I've anything against the pairing! I adore them.

Enjoy!

* * *

He didn't know when, or why, Haruno Saukra had latched onto him as her closest male friend. If he thought about it, Kiba would probably realized that it was because he was every bit as energetic as the previous holder of that position, Naruto. He and the blonde had once shared the same dream and the same empathy for others, though Kiba's was reserved almost entirely for animals while Naruto's was focused on people. They shared many of the same values: friendship, teamwork, loyalty, the determination to complete the mission... and a certain love of fun.

Leaning with his hands braced carefully on either side of the sliding door frame as he stared down at the pink-haired girl before him, Kiba did not think about it. He merely accepted that once again, she had come to him and that, once again, she looked ready to drop.

"Lose someone at the hospital?" he prodded gently, dropping one arm and stepping aside so she could enter his mixed-stye home. She nodded, not meeting his gaze, and with one hand on the wall for balance began to toe off her hospital slippers. She had flickered over; the spike of chakra was what had lead him to his back door in the first place, followed seconds after by her now-fmiliar scent. Bleach, blood, and the berries that scented her body wash. Body wash there was a bottle of in his own bathroom. There was a faint hint of water whenever she gestured at something, because she washed her hands so often. Today, the smell went all the way up to her biceps.

After sliding the door shut behind them he rested a hand on her back, rubbing it across her shoulder blades comfortingly. "I'm sorry." Again she nodded, pale pink locks sliding forward from her shoulders. She had been so busy lately now that she was off the mission roster that she hadn't even had a chance to get it cut. It was something Kiba didn't understand: from all reports (meaning Shikamaru and Choji) she had cut her hair off herself the first time, back in their first Chunin exam. Why not just do the same? He had asked her once and only once, because it had led to her closing up the way she always did when she thought of her old team. No one ever spoke to Sakura about those she used to call 'her boys', not even the Hokage.

A part of him wanted to ask her, order her, to tell him what was wrong now. What had happened? Was it injury or illness? A child, adult, an old person? A teenager? The only thing he knew for sure was that it wasn't one of their agemates; it would have been the first thing out of her mouth had that been the case, as he knew from when they had almost lost Ino. But she came to him for comfort first; interaction second. He knew that. He accepted it and tried not to think about it.

He had decided early on that he didn't want to know.

So instead he led her wordlessly down the hall, past the room he had given over to Akamaru and his mate, to the bathroom. She followed him like a wraith, standing just inside the doorway as he turned on the hot water tap to fill the bath and hitched himself up to sit on the counter. They watched the large tub—three and a half feet deep, four feet across, five feet long—fill in silence for several minutes before the sound of her undressing reached his sensitve ears. He didn't turn his head to look at her, he didn't even blink.

This was as standard to him now as being sent on a tracking mission. Sakura would come over, undress, bathe away the day's pains and woes, then curl up next to him in a plain white yukata she had given over into his care. He would give her a cup of tea and drape and arm over her shoulders while he watched TV, or read, or ate. Whatever he had been doing when she came over; she didn't interfere with his life, in fact seemed to be more content when he was pretending she wasn't there than when he was paying attention to her. Not that he was ignoring her—far from it.

Nothing she did while in his house was unknown to him. It was a result of having such highly attuned sense. One of the things he had realized the first time he let himself ponder their situation was that that could very well be one of the main reasons she came to him. When she lost it, if she collapsed, when she tried to drown herself in his tub... he always knew and was there in seconds, holding her, catching her, pulling her to the surface. Once she had been about to take a kunai to her wrist. He had stopped her and been sliced to all hell in the process. Kicking, screaming, she had sobbed when he pinned her to the floor with his body—the only way he could think to immobilize her without hurting her—and he had kissed her to shut her up. He didn't want the attention her horrified screams would draw any more than she did.

No one knew about their arrangment. Not a soul was aware that she slept at his house almost every night, or that she was dealing with the worst kind of psychosis imaginable for a shinobi—ghosts.

No one else knew how unstable she had been since Naruto and Sasuke's last fight and subsequent deaths. Sai had been caught in the chest by a 'stray' Chidori. Yamato's heart had given out while working to surpress the ninth tail, leaving just her and the man their now-broken team was named after. Kakashi had been the only one with a clue, she had muttered once as she curled up against his chest, fingers knotting in the mest of his shirt. She had edged closer to him on the bed and presed her brow to his collarbone. His hand had covered hers, thumb brushing over her knuckles in silent encouragement. Everyone knew that Kakashi had shut down to everyone other than Sakura since his male students' deaths. Then he had taken an unranked mission and never returned. Sakura had been inconsolable that week; it was when she started trying to kill herself.

Kiba hadn't been surprised the first time she tried to drown herself, had in fact only been grateful that it was at his house rather than her own, where no one could stop her. She had been stopping by his place irregularly since Naruto died and more often than not smelled strongly of her ex-sensei... too strongly for it to be just a matter of hugs and comfort. They had been sleeping together during those first eight months after Naruto's last mission, and from every hint she gave him, from every haunted look and how bright and raw her skin was when she emerged from the bath, it hadn't been because they cared for one another. She and Kakashi had been trying to forget for a time, to leave behind their pain. Empty pleasure, he had heard Sakura murmur to herself once while she scrubbed her skin raw, that was what it was. And she came to him to cleanse herself, which made no sense.

He wasn't anything special to her. He didn't know why Haruno Sakura had latched onto him as her refuge, had chosen his home as her bolthole of choice. Just that as long as she needed him, he would be there. He had been taking less missions lately, shorter ones, under the guise of preparing to take over as Alpha—or, as the rest of the village saw it, Head of his clan. In reality it was because he didn't want anything to happen to her. She had been taken off the active duty roster when she failed to pass the mental evaluation after her team's death, and he had realized that the more she was in the village, with so many memories of her friends around every corner, the more often she would be stopping by. He had gradually lessened his own village-based workload while taking on a more official role within the Inuzuka. Sakura didn't need to know that, though.

Just like she didn't need to know that what was left of the Konoha 11 had been astounded and deeply disturbed at her behavior and had met up without her to discuss it. Kiba had remained silent through the entire discussion, drinking and drinking and drinking as Ino and TenTen tossed around ideas on how to cheer her up and check on her subtly and Neji had shot down each and everyone, reminding them that Sakura was far too intelligent not to notice a sudden surplus of invitations to dinner and offers of support. It was cruel of him to let them stew, he knew, but by that point Sakura had already been visiting him, relying on him. He had left early and gone home that night, finding her sitting on his back porch, limp against one of the pillars. He had carried her inside; she fell asleep almost as soon as his arms closed around her on the bed, pulling her close. She didn't need anyone else.

She didn't seem to want anyone else, either. That time he had kissed her, just two weeks ago and the last time he had seen her, it had taken a few minutes of just him muffling her shouts and oaths and sobs with his own mouth. Then she had started kissing him back, still struggling to be free, hands sliding over him, the kunai long forgotten beside them. She seemed intent on seducing him, kissing and licking his flesh, nipping at his ear, urging him to touch her even as tears streamed down her face. He had not; he refused to be another Kakashi, taking what he wanted from her while she was so defenseless, emotionally. He had stayed over her until she desisted, shuddering and sobbing with her head tucked against his shoulder even as she healed the damage she had done. It was extensive, and after a full day at the hospital, struggling to fight him off, and then healing him, her chakra was nearly depleted and she slipped into blissful unconciousness. He had carried her to his bed, tucked her in, then went to clean up the mess of his own blood all over the hallway. Akamaru had been waiting for him, bumping his hand in concern. The dog was dead-set on the idea of Sakura being Kiba's mate.

Oddly, Kiba had stopped arguing after the first year. Akamaru was right: She relied on him, and he took care of her. She slept at his side, and he curled around her protectively. They touched almost contsantly. Kiba provided for her and guarded her visciously from any and all threats... especially herself. There were smaller things, too; he knew her scent like he knew his own, and she knew his... as well as a relatively normal person could with their limited senses. What she did know was his body; she could and would brush her fingers throgh his hair, press her hands to his chest, cuddle up to him while she slept, and it was at those times she looked most serene. And knowing what her lips felt like under his... it was a strange nugget of knowledge to have. Her lips looked so soft, but they were firm and strong, dry, and her lower lip was chapped from all the times she swiped her tongue across it while concentrating.

The senstion of her arms sliding around him from behind pulled him to the present. He had hopped down and crouched by the tub, testing the temperature with one hand. Apparently she had followed him. He closed his eyes, taking in the feeling of her naked body pressed along his clothed one. He was glad he had stopped wearing that old leather jacket; he wouldn't have been able to tell as much about her touch with it between the. As it was his standard Jonin-issue shirt let him feel that she was kneeling behind him, plastered against him from her shoulders to her hips, her head resting beteen his shoulder blades. She was shaking; he passed one hand down the skin of her arm to close around her hands where they were clasped together over his abs. "Sakura..." he began, but she cut him off.

"Join me," she invited, speaking for the first time since she arrived. He blinked un surprise. That was a new offer, though it wasn't unwelcome... And that was definitely the wrong place thought to have with Sakura's hands trying to wander down his chest and her bare breasts pressed against his back.

Persistent hands slipped from his grip and she began tugging at his standard-issue Jonin top. Half resigned, Kiba lowered his knees to the floor and let her divest him of his shirt. It wasn't worth fighting her on. All at once she started talking rapidly, and it took a moment to realize she was telling him about the patient she had lost.

"It was boy. He looked just like Naruto. He was sick—it was just the flu, but his family hadn't brought him in or gotten him any treatment. It had progressed too far. He died within a hour. I _felt_ his heart stutter out under my hands, though his chest. He was only ten." Turning to look at her, he saw that her face was dry, eyes remote. Her hands rested on his back, trembling. "He was only ten. That was younger than when we graduated Academy and now he's dead."

"It's not your fault." Kneeling, facing her, he pressed her hands together over his chest. "Its not your fault. It's not your fault." He caught his other hand behind her neck and pulled her forward, bonking their brows together as he led them to their feet. "I know you did everything you could. It was his parents' fault. They killed him, not you. If they had brought him in even a day sooner, you would have saved him. You've saved me so many times from much worse than a flu, so I know you could have done it. It wasn't your fault. None of what has happened has been your fault." He was rambling to her, keeping her mind off the face of the child. The last thing she needed was to think she had killed Naruto in any way shape or form. It had been three years already and she still acted as though it had been the day before.

Leading her hands to his hips, mainpulating her fingers to hook around the waistband of his pants, he urged her to continue her previous thoughts. "Come on. We can add bubbles and oils if you want, even though I'll end up smelling all girly." He scrunched his face up and was relieved to see her lips quirk up. "I'll just have to tumble around with Akamaru later to undo it."

"You'll smell like mud."

"I'll smell like me."

She stepped closer and bumped her nose against his collarbone, hands working independantly of his to remove his pants. That was good. He didn't know what was going on in her mind, but it was still good. She inhaled deeply and he felt a pulse of alarm shoot through him when her tongue flicked out and lapped at him delicately. This was way beyond bathing together and possibly getting seriously out of hand.

If he had sex with Sakura, Akamaru would never let him live it down.

Kiba stepped out of his pants and tugged her backwards, causing them to fall into the huge bath. They were both submerged in the almost scalding water, and that was exactly what he wanted. Her nails scratched across his chest in punishment before she pushed herself up and out of the water. His head broke the surface and he made a point of shaking it like a dog to get the water from his face and hair. It went everywhere, splattering her. Hands on his abdomen, her ass on his thighs, she laughed.

He stared.

And stared, even after the sound faded away to echoes. She sat there, staddling him and gazing at him innocently even as her nails played across his tightened abs. "You _laughed_ at me!" She hadn't laughed in years. _Years_. He would know; he saw her almost every day. "You laughed!" She bit her lip and nodded, and he saw that her eyes were glinting. "Sakura... you bitch!" Twisting, he bucked her off of him and shoved her under, holding her shoulders for a few seconds before dropping himself backwards. Underwater, she latched onto his ankle and pulled him back again, popping up and staring at him like some kind of water nymph with her hair floating around her. This was crazy. She was acting _normal_. She was _smiling_ as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She settled herself over his lap, ankles locked behind his back, and kissed him.

_Kissed him_. What the hell? Oh, what the hell. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back.

* * *

AN: So, how was it? :) I hope you enjoyed that, and that it was coherent. I know it's very dramatic, more so than my rather light-hearted norm, but it just kind of... came on its own. I sat down to write a brief homor one-shot to Toby Keith's song and ended up with this. That makes two sotries to Florence and the Machine songs, by the way.

Let me know if you've any questions! I can't promise answers, but I'll try my best. And no, most updates will _not_be within the same day. Probably. It depends. Anyway, thank you for reading!

_Ja na!_


	3. What Happens, Happens

Title: What Happens, Happens

Rating: K+

Summary: Three defining moments in Kiba and Sakura's courtship, prefaced by Naruto's immense confusion.

The original summary was "When Naruto gets back, things are a little different in ways he never expected. But if his friends are happy then so, he supposed, was he." but the story kind of went in a different direction.

Warnings: Contains Ino checking out other people's boyfriends (one in particular) and a small bit of language plus mentions of blood/violence/sex. Not together, though. And not really enough to merit this warning, either.

* * *

Naruto knew right when he lost his mind, like, for _real_. The world tipped and everything.

When Naruto returned after his three years of training he had expected very little to be the same, but even less to be different. He knew that didn't make any sense, and whenever he mentioned it to the Pervy Sage he got scoffed at. Kakashi seemed to understand, and had ruffled his hair affectionately before disappearing to go reread his still sorta-new book. He had been back for weeks before he noticed that Saukra spent only half her time with him and Kakashi. The other half was with Baa-chan or Shizune-nee-chan.

Which was why, when he saw her walking around with Kiba, he was so surprised and confused. How did she find the time to spend with anyone else? And why Kiba? But that didn't change the fact that she walked around the village like she owned it, or that the Inuzuka was, well, dogging her heels. And, um, catching her hand and _kissing his Sakura-chan! _In_ public_! He had frozen on the spot and gone unnoticed by either of his friends as they broke apart and grinned at one another like... like... like lovesick fools!

He heard some ladies talking about it a few minutes later. "Puppy love" they called it. "Sweet" and "refreshing" to see such a devoted young man pursue such a hardworking and deserving girl. This made Naruto frown. He was devoted. He had pursued her for years and never gotten anything for it other than a punch to the face and the occaisional tab at Ichiraku. Kiba got to hold her groceries and walk her home and buy her dinner.

He didn't understand it and he didn't like it. But that didn't seem to matter to either of his friends, and he was left to wonder what the hell had happened while he was gone.

* * *

Kiba knew _exactly_ when he had fallen for Sakura. The minute she punched him clear through a pretty damn sturdy tree during test two of their second Chunin exam, he had been a goner. That hadn't stopped him from fighting back, though, and after successfully getting her away from her teammates he had pinned her against a tree with his weight and smiled at her. Their bodies were pressed tight together, legs tangled as though they were lying on a bed. Their faces were almost kiss-close, and the longer he held her there the brighter pink her cheeks turned.

"You're really strong now," he had declared, impressed. "And you smell _really_ good, like fruit or somethin'." She had blinked up at him, murmured an agreement, and tried to knee him in the balls. He knew what she was trying to do, so he had sidestepped and grinned at her, brushing his nose throuh her hair to memorize her scent. She had then slammed her head back against the tree, whih crumbled on impact and broke his hold on her, what withthere being nothing for him to press her against. Several yards away, in a crouch, he laughed. "You're _really_ strong. But so am I."

They had fought in earnest, and the battle ended with her once again pinned under him, this time as he straddled her and held her wrists flat to the loamy forest floor. "I can't do what I want to you right now," he had announced conversationally. "Because Hinata would be able to see it and she'd freak out." Leaning down, he had pressed his lips to her brow, which really wasn't that big, now that he thought about it. "So how 'bout we have dinner together after we get out of here? Nothin' fancy, just takoyaki or dango or somethin'. That sound alright?"

Flushed, breathless, her chest heaving, she had guaged his sincerity and nodded. "You're buying, though."

"Of course. My mom beat manners into me pretty well, you know. Sometimes I even manage to be a gentleman." He pressed his nose to her temple and inhaled deeply. Then he was gone, Akamaru hot on his heels.

That had been two years before, and they had been dating ever since. When Naruto got up in his face about it, he beat the blond into the ground before buying his ramen and explianing that the blond could have the Hokage title for all he cared as long as he left Sakura alone and didn't give her any shit.

* * *

Ino knew the precise moment Sakura had given up all pretenses and accepted that she she was seriously in lust with Kiba. Forehead had been visiting the flower shop a few months after they made chunin. She was uninvited and Ino had been trying to usher her out of the store, because she knew what the pink-haired fool didn't; her beau was due to pick up the flowers he was going to give her for their three month anniversary _any minute_.

Sakura had been insisting that they were just friends, that being bought lunch and/or dinner every other day for three months wasn't big deal. Ino knew otherwise: her best friend glowed when she talked about Kiba, seriously _glowed_. It was weird. Her eyes got all shimmery and everything. But Ino never mentioned this because she wanted to see how it played out on its own. Kiba had been coming to her for advice, too, so her loyalties were torn. She couldn't tell either of her friends what the other was saying about them as _'them_' and it was driving her nuts.

While Billboard brow was slumped across the counter, prattling on about her latest training disaster under Tsunade-sama—something about bench-pressing a rock that was roughly the size and shape of Yondaime's nose—Ino had sighed and given up all hope. Sakura would just have to see the bouquet. Maybe Kiba would be late picking it up so she would be happily surprised when she recieved it that evening... but that hope died when she saw Akamaru pad around a corner just ahead of his master and their teammates. Apparently Team Eight had a hard practice that day, because the man of the hour was—Ino swallowed _hard_ and battled down the suden burst on envy in her gut—was shirtless and sweaty and glistening in the sun _deliciously_.

"Uhh, Forehead, don't look now but here comes your boyfriend." An idea struck her when Sakura opened her mouth to deny that he was her boyfriend. "On second, though, look _now_!" she ordered and reaching across the counter, careful not to crush the bouquet, grabbed Sakura's head and physically turned her to face the door as Kiba strode in, laughing at something Hinata had said.

His net shirt was over one shoulder, leather jacket danging from his free hand as he held the door for Hinata and Shino. There was sweat on his tanned, muscular chest and sliding down his flexing throat. All this she knew from seeing his aproach. Ino watched as her friend's eyes widened and she licked her lips. Then the door to the back of the store opened, Ino's mother walking in, and the cross-breeze lifted the end of Sakura's hair in the direction of the front door. The three women nearest the counter all watched, riveted, as Kiba stiffened, eyes clamping shut as he inhaled deeply, the breath making his chest shudder and ripple impressively, before turning his head and fixing those hot, penetrating eyes _right on Sakura_.

_Lucky bitch!_ Ino had glanced back at her friend, undeniably impressed that the number-two ADD ninja of Konohakagure's attention could be caught so quickly and intently by anything, only to see Sakura's eyes darken in turn as she stared at Kiba. The tension in the room had been palpable... and enough to make Hinata swoon, breaking the moment. Kiba had caught his teammate with enough ease to make it obvious this happened on a semi-regular basis, then grinned somewhat awkwardly at Sakura.

"Hey," he greeted, eyes flicking over to the flowers. Guiding Hinata to the floor a little farther inside, he crouched down and pressed a hand to her brow, murmuring for Shino to hand him a water bottle, which he then used to wipe cool water on Hinata's brow. He was distracted, though, glancing over his shoulder more often than he should. After a moment Ino realized why: It was summer, and Saukra was wearing a simple black bandeau top with a halter strap. It was one Ino had insisted on the other girl getting because it actually gave Sakura _cleavage_. Not to mention the fact that she had forgone the medic apron she usually wore, which left her in two skintight black garments that left just enough to the imagination to drive a guy wild.

And Sakura's eyes hadn't left Kiba since he walked in, either, sliding over his finely muscled back (and back_side_! Ino cheered silently).

Yeah... there was no denying it now, and Sakura knew that when Ino caught her eye. Sakura had it just as bad as the dog-nin.

* * *

Sakura knew just when she finally, really, completely fell in love with Kiba. He had been professing his feelings for her for over a year, never pressuring her to return in kind. Kiba's love for her was then and had always been as steady and strong as the ocean, always there, always a constant, always patiently waiting for her heart to catch up. And she had been, steadily, but there was one moment when her heart tripped over the edge and she found that she herself had fallen headfirst _into_ that ocean.

It was when she caught sight of a so-familiar mop of brown hair. On a gurney. He was _covered_ in blood. A split second later the medic in her shoved the concerned lover to the far corner of her mind. She barked orders, shoved her files off on some other poor bastard, and bolted through the doors after him. She was healing him before she even got a good look at his wounds, pressing her hands to a gaping hole in his side. His fingers and looped around her wrist, something he did often when he wanted her attention. Habit from their time_—three years, four months, one week, wasn't it? But not long enough, not nearly long enough, oh, God, Kiba—_as a couple made her want to look up. Professionalism demanded that she stay focused. Her heart ordered her to look in his eyes while her brain insisted on checking him for any other injuries.

Her heart won. "Kiba..." she sounded broken, and his thumb fluttered over her wrist. "What happened to you?"

He grinned at her, that heart-stopping grin she had first seen in the Forest of Death when he bodily pinned her against a tree. "Wait'll you see the other guy, babe," was all he got out before he started coughing up blood. The other medics had frozen and stared at her, apparently previously unaware that they were treating the lover of the Hokage's apprentice. Then they all went back to work, chakra glowing so brightly, so purely, that the entire hall was illuminated.

It was insane and unprecedented: a shinobi went from near death to being fully healed in twenty six minutes and forty-three seconds. He was released an hour later, fit as a fiddle after getting a shower. Sakura didn't get to see him until she got home that night and found him sitting on her front step, a sleeping Akamaru half on his lap. He smiled up at her and pressed one finger to his lips, requesting silence, and she lowered herself to his side before dissolving into near hysterics. He pulled her against him, nuzzling her and whispering reassurances, pressing his lips lightly over hers right up until the words "I don't know why I love you, you stupid, reckless, idiot" escaped her mouth between kisses.

He froze and pulled back, eyes wide and staring. "Sakura, you—" he began, but she threaded her hands into that soft mane of hair that had been so stained with blood and pulled his lips to her. She stood, dragging him inside. Akamaru followed sleepily and dropped himself onto his favorite rug as she lead Kiba backwards into her bedroom.

"I love you," she had murmured while he made love to her. "I love you. I love you. Don't scare me like that. I love you."

And he had whispered half-empty promises in return. "I'll do what I can." "But how else will I get your attention?" And her personal favorite, as he wrapped himself around her and settled in for the night, "Marry me."

She kissed him.

* * *

Fairly self-explanatory I think.

Slightly late Happy Halloween, for those of you who are so inclined to dress up and hand out candy or whatever to children. Or go to wild crazy parties. Or do both. I was a vampire; it was fun. ^_^

_Ja na!_


	4. Impermanence

Title: Impermanence

Rated: K+

Song: I Need You by Leann Rimes

Warnings: Rated for language. Contains NaruHina, ShinoHana, ShikaIno (sorta... i't snot really visible, but it's there nonetheless). And, of course, KibaSaku!

Enjoy!

* * *

Her husband was dead.

The news had come from Naruto himself, so there really was no doubt. The Hokage did not lie, especially not to his advisors. Sakura had ignored the pitying looks from Shikamaru, the conerned side glances from Ino, the silent offers to join Hinata in tears or to visit with Shino over a cup of tea. She didn't have time to mourn, not truly.

Kiba was dead, and that left Inuzuka Sakura as Alpha, head of the clan. She had a lot of work to do; without Tsume and Hana at her back it would have been impossible. There was a funeral to arrange and attend, despite the fact that they didn't have the body, and she needed to stand strong for the clan that had become her family. So she was strong, and she lead them. She only cried at night, and for some reason that was only ever without tears. Tsume cried while she was making dinner, but ony if it was one of Kiba's favorites. Hinata cried in her husband's office when she saw that Sakura still wore her wedding ring, and while walking past Shino she saw him reach under his glasses to press fingertips to his own eyes when Sakura refused to stop painting the red triangles on her face every morning as tradition dictated. Hana didn't seem to cry at all, much to Shino's silent concern.

Months passed quickly, weeks were drawn out, and days were interminably long. Sakura wasn't sure how that worked, exactly, but it was what it was and she had long since accepted it as truth. As head of the Inuzuka Clan, there were a number of things Sakura had to accept at face-value. Going to bed alone was by far the worst, but she did it every night without complaint.

She was kneeling with her back to Kakashi, imprinting her fingertips with her husband's named where it was carved into the memorial stone when she felt the impossible. As she rose, stepping back to allow her former mentor-turned-friend his turn at honoring those lost, but never forgotten, she caught sight of a large blur of white. She was attacked, knocked to the ground, and was pulling a kunai free of the holster on her thigh before she stopped rolling across the clearing. She spun the blade in her grip when the large white _thing_ pounced on her. There was incredible weight pressed firmly into her shoulders, and hot damp breath puffing against her face. She knew Kakashi was moving to defend her, and when she saw strong arms covered in the material of his jonin shirt wrap around her attacker's throat and pull it up and away from her, she was relieved. Then she noted that the hands were free of gloves, and as the white beast of unknown origin was pulled off her she rolled to a crouch, blade at the ready lest it attack again.

Until she recognized the creature struggling to return to her side as Akamaru. With a cry, she dropped the blade an rushed the familiar dog, burying her face against his neck and ignoring the hands now pinned between her shoulders and the dog's neck. She inhaled deeply, the familiar scent of wild and dirt and the doggie shampoo Kiba had always washed his partner with easing some of the pain in her heart. She—and everyone else—had assumed that Kiba's death meant Akamaru was gone, too.

"How did you find him?" she asked the jonin who had brought her husband's partner to her—from the damp fur pressing agains ther face, only after he had been given a bath back home—eager for information. "_Where_ did you find him?"

Confusion laced the voice that answered her from the other side of the great dog. "Find him? He was never missing, Sakura." She froze, but the man continued. "And, hey, what're you doing here anyway? I looked for you at home..."

She knew that voice. She _knew_ that voice. Her hands moved to latch onto the arms holding Akamaru, who was grumbling happily and nuzzling against her. She dug her makeshift claws in, holding tight enough that the man couldn't move away without pain.

"Ow, shit, Sakura, what the hell—?"

"Kiba?" Shifting back slightly, she dragged the man forward until his head was visible over Akamaru's shoulder. Wild brown hair hung around a tanned face with broad, cold red marks on the cheekbones. Sharp, beast-like eyes were scrunched up in confusion, his lips turned down in perturbed frown. "_Kiba?_" Releasing him, she shoved herself away from the ninken and the man who was half-laying on its back. She staggered away, eyes huge. He straightened, rolling his shoulders and pressing one hand over where she had embedded her nails into his arm.

"Damn, woman, what the hell was that for?" he frowned at her, expression shifting to petulance. She gazed at him, finding herself unable to speak. Her eyes, still wide in astonishment, began to fill with tears. They pooled along the lower part of her eyes, obscuring the face she so wished to see and the world around them. Instead Sakura focused on his voice, the familiar depth and rumble to it as he complained heartily. "That's hardly the welcome I was hoping for after being _gone_ for so—" She flew at him, arms winding around his shoulder, one hand buried in his wonderfully mussed hair. If he weren't a ninja, he wouldn't have been able to catch her up against him, hands pressing against her shuddering back as she gasped for breath, dragging the air into her lungs with painful desperation. He was _here_... he was _holding_ her... he was _alive_... and _warm_... and... and _hers_ again. She pressed her cheek against his neck, dragging in his scent as she had his partner's. He smelled of pine and wet dog and grass, as always. He was real.

He was _real_.

"Kiba... _Kiba_... You're here, you're okay?" she pulled away and ran her hands over his arms, pausing long enough to pour chakra into the wounds she had caused. She pressed her palms to his chest, feeling through his shirt for any injuries or bandages. There were none, but she felt a small ridge of flesh on his right side, over his ribs, and she followed it to his back, gasping at what she discovered there. Grabbing his shoulders, she whirled him around, yanking off the jonin vest and pulling his shirt up practically over his head as he cursed in confusion and amusement. She gasped and cried out in shock at what she saw, ran her hands over once-smooth flesh, and started to cry. He was more than real.

He was _covered_ in scars. Moving to his side, her hands scrabbled at his arm, dragging his sleeves up to his elbows. His arms, too, were scored with occasional ridges of hardened flesh that she had mistaken for the mesh shirt he usually wore under his clothes.

"I was captured. They interrogated me," he offered quietly, watched her survey his damaged body. "I just kept telling them that they had nothing on Ibiki, that what he did during the chunin exams was way scarier than anything they could threaten me with. They tried to prove me wrong." She heard the grin in his voice and her head snapped up, confused. "They didn't; Ibiki really is scary. I didn't tell them anything... and eventually Akamaru and I broke out. We took down the whole base, and by the time we had we realized we were months away from Konoha by foot, near the edge of the continent. I figure they must have teleported us there—it's the only answer that makes any sense. There were no messenger hawk services in the area, and I had to hole up in a little village while I healed... I'm sorry I was gone so long. You must have been worried."

She realized, then, looking into his eyes, that as soon as he got back he had gone looking for her. First at their home, where he had cleaned up, and then followed her scent trail here. He hadn't spoken to anyone else. Glancing around, she saw that Kakashi had left, probably to tell Naruto the news. She looked back at her husband and swallowed, hard. "I wasn't worried at all," she told him truthfully, and watched the frown flicker over his face as he tried to ponder that one out. Taking his hand, she led him over to the engraved tablet. Kneeling, she tugged him down beside her. "I wasn't worried," she explained him in a surprisingly steady voice as she guided his hand to his own name, "because I was told you were dead." Sakura looked over at him and saw the horror dawning on his face as he stared at the characters carved under his fingertips. He traced his name slowly, eyes wide, then turned to her.

"Sakura... Oh my god. _Sakura_," he pulled her into his arms, dropping himself back to sit on the ground and hold her in his lap. "I'm _not_ dead," he said almost indignantly. "So don't just let ignorant people kill me off, okay? You know I won't just die on you like that. You _have_ to know it." Hands clenched in the material of his shirt, his vest still over on the ground where they had stood, she nodded mutely. "Who the hell told you I was dead, anyway? I'll kill 'em!"

She smiled. "You can't."

"Oh yeah?" he challenged. "They put my wife through _hell_; bet your sweet ass I'll kill 'em."

"It was Naruto."

"Oh." He was silent for a moment. "Then I guess... I'll be the Hokage?" he said almost tentatively, and she thumped a fist against his chest, chuckling. He laughed too, body shaking around her, hands warm and firm on her back and leg. Akamaru padded over, flak vest in his teeth, and dropped it before them, then settled himself at Kiba's back. They leaned against the massive dog, Sakura's head cradled against Kiba's shoulder. She hadn't thought she would ever get to sit like this again, and the fact that they were, and she was, and Kiba was _there_ brought on another round of tears.

"It's a good thing you're back," she told him after a moment, when she sensed a group of very familiar chakra signatures approaching quickly.

"'Cuz you missed me? Because the bed is cold without me?"

"There is that," she allowed, then smiled and turned her head up to his. "But mostly because I'm pregnant."

Kiba let out a strangled shout of surprise and confusion, turning his head to stare at her with his mouth working to form words he apeared not to have chosen yet. Then he gave up and slid one hand along her jaw, tipping her head up to his and kissing her deeply. Over and over, he pressed his lips to hers, tongue delving into her mouth and twining with her own. Sakura groaned and buried her hands in his hair. She had missed him _so much_...

That was how Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata, Shino, Kakashi, Genma, Tsume, Hana... _everyone_... found them. Shouts of joy and disbelief reached them before their friends did, and they were dragged to their feet as Kiba was alternately welcomed back and lectured for not sending word. Hinata hugged Kiba and Naruto clapped him on the back, Tsume growled and actually _bit_ him as punishment, whereas Hana just tackled her brother, closing him in her embrace and sobbing the tears she hadn't let anyone see. Akamaru danced around the happy group with the other ninken before they surged to Kiba en masse, howling for his attention and bumping him with their heads.

The informal greeting party went on and on as more and more people arrived, having heard of his return. During the entire day, only once did Kiba release his hold on Sakura, letting his arm slip from around her waist, hand pressed flat to her slightly curved belly, and that was to slug Naruto in the mouth, sending him flying back across the clearing. Shaking his fist at the sting, then holding it out for Sakura to heal the two broken knuckles, he glowered at his friend. "That's what you get for telling my wife I was _dead_, moron. Check the facts next time," he snapped, and Naruto's retort died stillborn on his lips, a dark look settling on his features even as Hinata knelt at his side and began tenderly prodding his jaw to see that it was in one piece. "Don't you dare heal him," Kiba growled, and Hinata shot a surprised look at her former teammate. "Bastard deserves a punch for every goddamn tear shed because of his _idiocy_."

"That's a little severe, don't you think, Kiba-kun?" Kakashi murmured from behind them, and the couple turned to face him. Sakura beamed up at Kakashi.

"No," she said sweetly. "I would have done it if Kiba hadn't." Kakashi blinked once, slowly, then edged away from the famously short-tempered couple, leaving them to the tender care of Kiba's mother and sister, who had strayed no further than six feet away since they first arrived.

Tsume laughed at Sakura's words and clapped her daughter-in-law on the shoulder. "And you're one of the only people in the village who hit harder than my son," she mused, an evil grin spreading across her face. She was no happier with the false report than Sakura herself. Shooting Naruto, and then Kiba, a glance, she tutted. "Shame you got to him first, pup. I'd like to wallop him good myself."

"I think Hinata would protest too much abuse of her husband," Shino murmured from his place next to Hana, who grinned and leaned against his side, sharing a conspiratorial look with Sakura. There had to be something they could do to Naruto to make up for the months of pain they had gone through. It would take time and planning and lots of brainstorming, but _something_...

Ino's voice tore Sakura from her thoughts and she turned to accept another hug of giddy relief from her best female friend.

"Hey now, she's _mine_," Kiba complained heartily, tugging her back against his chest when they were through. Sakura willingly turned into the embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck and tugging his head down for a quick, thorough kiss. When they came up for air, ignoring all the catcalls—or rather, wolf whistles given present company—she grinned cheekily up at her husband.

"So, have you though of any names?" she asked, and let the chaos ensue.

* * *

I've had this written for some time, but in my defense I've also been tweaking it very often. Finally I decided it was good enough as is, and I hope you all agree! I'm very touched to see how may alerts, hits, and +favs this has gotten! It's so nice to know there are many other KibaSaku supporters out there!

_Ja na!_


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